The Off Color Thread

Very cool.

Just finishing a DS that’s at least 2 years old and it’s still great. Continues to be an underrated brewery.

 

Very obvious bias here, as Off Color is my favorite Chicago brewer, so take this for what it's worth but I was extremely pleased with the new space last night.

Easily the most chill opening of a venue I've ever been to and a cool space that looks to be planned very well. The two halves of the tap room are wisely separated via a long singular high top for standing. The front half has a good amount of four top tables, a small section with a long booth with chairs opposite the tables lined up there, and the to-go/merch counter. The back half is the bar itself with ample space at more high tops w/seats + seats at the bar. Great flow, in my opinion, and I suspect it will perform well in times when they're busy.

The decor is most definitely in line with their normal aesthetic/branding which is much appreciated. All the details are covered, from the tile work to the speaker covers.

It's a very relaxed vibe as a result, and much appreciated when most of your time is spent chasing whalez and or fighting for space at the latest rare tapping around town.

I don't necessarily think the lack of food is a problem - you can bring food in or order from pizzeria bebu using their pizza phone which is a nice touch. Considering a huge whole foods is directly behind the place, no one's gonna starve.

A very selfish inconvenience is that it does not look like they allow children. I understand why, but it'd be great to not have to get a sitter every time my wife and I would like to go together instead of roshambo for the right.

Vintage bottles being available is a great draw if you've missed a release or want to splash out on something you really enjoyed the first time around. I'm sure people will likely gripe about pricing ($40 for eek and bonaparte's revenge, $50 for papillion and whiskers, $25 for market rate, and $22 for ba growl), but it's pretty much in line w/similar places for on site consumption, e.g. side project.

The location itself is an interesting case, as they're definitely not going to get much foot traffic if any. To me, this is selfishly great because the people that are actively seeking it out are the ones going, but I don't necessarily think it'll help grow the brand via random inquiring minds popping in. Seriously, unless you knew it was there, you'd very easily miss it driving by or even walking by for that matter. Given their general proclivity to not care for mainstream acceptance, I doubt the powers that be at Off Color are worried about this. Just thought it was something to note.

All in all, very happy to see this open and think they nailed it. We're very spoiled for choice in Chicago now with recent openings (this, Half Acre) and hopefully upcoming spaces (Marz, Pipeworks)

 

Great review! The taproom is awesome all around. Such a great design and atmosphere.

Just wanted to mention that I called on opening day and was told kids are allowed up until 6pm.

 

Plus Metropolitan, Maplewood, and yes even Goose Island.

 

Thanks for the clarification on kids, obviously a very welcome development,

 

I was a huge fan of that beer. I found it on the shelf in Columbus, Ohio. Cracked in open at DLD and it was a hit.

 

I remember back in the day when Laffler was at Goose Island and I was eagerly awaiting a Pipeworks taproom. Wah, wah. Still no Pipeworks taproom, but at least Off Color has one! Look forward to hitting this place up.

 

I agree with alot of what you said but lets not pretend that Side Project and OC are remotly close to each other in terms of quality. Love the space but think they are a bit off on their pricing for the vintage offerings. I fully understand them having to have a markup but its a bit steep for the quality IMO.

 

Its a very good beer.

 

That’s fair. It’s really hard to find an analogous brewery in the area for sake of comparison so for sake of style side project was the most appropriate that came to mind. It’s a bit of a leap, sure, but given the general cost of living difference between Chicago and Stl I wouldn’t say it’s ridiculously off.

Could they stand to come down? Sure. But if people willing to pay it, more power to them I say. It’s really only for the much older bottles too it seems, given market rate and growl are significantly lower and not a ton of markup over their original releases.

Personally, I stuck to the taps but can see myself going full yolo on an eek bottle at some point.

 

Might not be as big of a difference as you think. Side Project's in a pretty popular neighborhood right off of a main street.

 

Here now. Can’t wait to come back on a day where I can really through back a few. Phenomenal beers, a place you would take someone who is visiting from another good beer region and be fairly confident they would be impressed.

 

It’s awesome. Probably my favorite beer from Off color by a wide margin.

What the hell? On the email for release, OC said Eek was only going to be for sale one weekend, and that was it.

But it saw out of state distro? That’s a bummer.

 

That's interesting. I knew the property itself and wages would be higher up here, but I didn't realize there was such a difference in the business/liquor fees.

 

It was only available one week in Chicago. But it saw out of state distro. It was a shelf turd in Ohio. Other states that get OC said the same thing, it was just something sitting on their shelves. I would have stocked up. That beer was right up my alley.

 

Nice, another place to try before we leave Chicago (*adds to long list*). I'm actually even more excited that Spiteful Brewing's taproom might be open in the next few months. If I miss their actual opening at Spiteful while we are here, I'll find an excuse and will come back in spring to check it out. High times for all you Chicago beer lovers that's for sure. Again, wish I lived here (yes, yes, despite its minor challenges).